Legal Policy
The government is not your parent: why we need an inquiry into the ‘Nanny State’
The day before my motion to establish an inquiry into the Nanny State passed the Senate, the NSW Parliament enacted legislation that means e-cigarettes will be treated in the same way as tobacco products. The new laws not only restrict
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Taking on the ‘Outrage Brigade’
It always surprises me when people ask whether a comment I’ve made is ‘appropriate’ for a Senator. It implies that my standards should be different from everyone else’s. Before last July – when I was sworn in – I was
Read MoreDon’t lift taxes to fix the Budget
The Prime Minister has promised that his Tax White Paper will not be about increasing the tax take. This is heartening, because a look at the numbers confirms that the Government’s Budget woes are not due to the Government forgetting
Read More‘Give Nuclear a Chance’
Barack Obama’s former energy adviser, Steven Chu, recently referred to Australia’s stance on nuclear power as terribly strange. It’s not surprising. If any country in the world should embrace nuclear power, it is Australia. We have millions of tonnes of
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Wind Warriors: the smug is strong here
Late last year a group of rural residents met me to discuss their concerns over wind farms in their communities. They came from several different areas and presented as sensible, down to earth people who you would be pleased to
Read MoreConstitutional Recognition will not ‘close the gap’
Seven years ago, the Rudd government apologised to the Stolen Generations. As the recently released Closing the Gap report indicates, this achieved nothing for Aboriginal living standards. The unemployment rate for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders is still three times
Read MoreRemembering Gough
If it wasn’t for Gough Whitlam I may well have been imprisoned or shot. Like so many of his legacies, people will argue about whether this was a good thing or not. But by ending conscription he saved me, and
Read MoreLet the Disabled Work
Michael has a moderate intellectual disability and cerebral palsy. A business owner in Coffs Harbour offered Michael a job shredding documents, despite the fact that Michael couldn’t prepare the equipment, ensure he had the right documents, or record the work
Read MoreThe Rent-Seeking Guild
It is night, a fever takes hold and a mother starts to worry. A bathroom cupboard is raided, but it is full of medicine past its use-by date. A child is bundled into a car. A waiting room is endured.
Read MoreLet the people vape
It seems everything is illegal in Australia unless a bureaucrat gives permission. What’s worse, you have to go to the trouble and expense of asking the bureaucrat for permission, because if bureaucrats were proactive they would run the risk of
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